Untitled
by nfgirl
Summary: Six untitled ficlets, mostly centered around Shelby. All are less than 1000 words, and so didn't seem to merit their own seperate stories.
1. Chapter 1

Shelby. Set post- "Dark Allies" and the destruction of the Excalibur.

-

It's winter in San Francisco, and the ocean is cold. Standing on the grounds of Starfleet Headquarters, looking down from the balcony outside the conference room, she can feel the wind on her face, the chilly air blowing off the water toward the land.

The sun is beginning to come out. She squints toward the ocean, not that there's anything to see, what with the fog still covering the water, and she marvels at how long it's been since she set foot on Earth. Probably not since she left to serve with Mac on the Excalibur. She can't remember exactly, after so long in space, planets have begun to blur together-- even her home planet.

She grips the balcony railing-- it's cold under her hands and almost hurts to touch-- and wishes Mac was here. He liked San Francisco. He liked the Academy. She's been doing a lot of walking lately. She's been walking around the city, visiting her old dorms and classrooms, just wandering. She's been wishing he was here, too, to see the city again.

"Commander Shelby?"

An ensign leans out the door to the conference room, looking apologetic. "Sorry to disturb you-- but the debriefings are beginning again. I think you'll want to come inside soon."

She nods. "Thank you, ensign. I'll be right there."

She turns to leave, to head inside, but not before another look back at the ocean, at the fog that is creeping slowly off the water. It's been too long, she thinks.


	2. Chapter 2

Calhoun/Shelby. Set after Restoration. This is the sappy one.

-

She never thought she'd marry.

It just didn't seem practical. She had known all her life what she wanted to do when she grew up: become a Starfleet officer, preferably on the command track. There was never any doubt about that. And she had witnessed first hand, growing up the Fleet brat daughter of two admirals, the difficulties of maintaining both a family and home life as well as a career.

It just wouldn't be fair, if she were to marry one day, to try to balance her career with a family. Something would have to give, and if she were perfectly honest, that something would be probably end up being her home life. Starfleet had been a huge part of her life for so long, after all, and demanded so much energy and time from her that it would be hard not to give it precedence. It wouldn't be fair to anyone concerned.

That was what she had decided long ago. And it had seemed like a good, reasonable idea at the time.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" she asks Mac after dinner. She's clearing the dishes, recycling them, and Mac's stretched out her couch, eyes closed, looking thoroughly contented. They'd had a very nice meal-- it had been nothing fancy, just pasta and some salad, but she had enjoyed herself immensely, and it looked like he hadn't had a bad time, either.

"What's going to work?"

She picks up the forks and knives, and says, "You and me. Marrying each other." She wishes a little that she hadn't brought it up, but it's too late now, and she keeps her tone light and casual. She feels slightly stupid bringing it up again, after days and days of rehashing their previous relationship and discussing what went wrong and how to prevent something like that from happening again-- it was all good stuff, really, but she feels like she needs to ask again. She needs to hear it again, hear it from him.

"As long as we promise not to kill each before the honeymoon ends," Mac says, opening his eyes, smiling at her. "I figure, if we make it through two weeks with just each other for company, we'll be fine."

He looks sweet, lying on the couch and smiling, and she feels guilty for doubting him. Them. His intentions. It's not that she doesn't trust him, she would-- no, she has-- trusted him with her life. And she trusts him now. It's just-- hard sometimes, after so long. And she wants this marriage, she really, really does. But at the same time, she worries about them, how they'll make it now if they couldn't back then.

"Eppy?"

"Hmm?" She moves toward the replicator, clearing the last of the silverware.

"Is everything all right?"

She puts the knives and forks on the replicator pad, and recycles them with the push of a button. "Yes, fine. I'm sorry, I just--"

She goes to him, walks over to the couch and sits on the arm, next to where Mac's feet rest. "I just think sometimes," she says. "About us. And I want things to work, this time."

"I do too," he says.

He's looking at her now, and she can't think of anything else to say, because that's pretty much it, and so instead she moves to sit next to him on the couch, pushing his feet to the side. "I'll miss serving with you."

He looks surprised. "Really?"

"Yes," she says, half-laughing. She wonders if she should be offended at the incredulity in his voice. "It wasn't all bad, those three years."

He nods, acknowledging this. "I suppose I must have been doing something right." He draws himself up from the couch, shifting to the side to make room for her beside him.

Elizabeth moves herself up the couch, closer to Mac, and falls back on the couch, letting her head rest onto his shoulder. "You were just being yourself."

"Go with what works, that's what I've always thought."

"Yeah," she says. "And it worked."

It definitely worked. She'd never seriously considered marriage before him, before he asked her that day in front of her senior staff, in front of everyone on the Excalibur bridge. At which point, the only answer she could come up with was "yes."

"Hey." Mac's voice is soft in her ear. "Are you having second thoughts?"

She turns her head as best she can to look at him. And the angle's awkward, and it's uncomfortable, but now she can look at him in the face. "No," she says, and she means it. Because she knows they'll find a way, they always have. If he could return from the dead for her, there's nothing-- absolutely nothing-- to stop them from creating something strong, and lasting, and real between them. He said earlier, a little thing like two different ships won't stop them from being together if they want to be.

She leans in and touches her lips to his, to emphasize the point. "No second thoughts," she says. "After all, like you said... we just promise to not kill each other on the honeymoon, and it should be fine from there."

He laughs. "It'll be a good start, at least."

"Exactly," she says, and lies back down beside him, curling up close, content to relax with him for a while. She plans on enjoying it-- after all, they're got the rest of their wedded lives together to spend trying not to kill each other.


	3. Chapter 3

Calhoun. General.

-

Mac lies to people a lot. To Jellico, mostly, at least as of lately. He says, "Admiral, we've sent the mission reports. Twice. It must be a problem on your end."

To his crew: "Keep doing your jobs, I'm handling the situation. If there's anything I need from you, I'll let you know."

To alien ministers and heads of state: "I give you my personal guarantee that Mr. Kebron will not harm you. Please, come into the conference lounge. There's not much we can accomplish out here by the ops station."

He lies sometimes to Picard and Shelby, but it feels worse, and so he tries not do it very much. But it happens. He says, "I have everything under control" and "The plasma injectors were fixed last week" and "It's only synthahol."

(In the morning, to Eppy: "I tried to tell you to drink more water, but you wouldn't listen.")

Lying isn't the most respectable way to conduct his affairs, of course, but it's gotten him out of some very, very tight spots.


	4. Chapter 4

Shelby and Mueller. Set sometime after Shelby takes command of the Trident.

-

"You are a walking black market," says Shelby, shaking her head as she surveys the cabinet, well-stocked with liquor of all varieties, including some she recognizes as illegal. "I am amazed, Kat. Truly amazed."

"Thanks." Kat looks pleased. "I rather like it myself."

"You do realize that you're breaking about half a dozen regulations by just being in possession of these?"

"You know you love it," Kat says with a smile.

"Oh, stop it." Elizabeth picks up a bottle, glances at the label. "Schnapps?"

"There's more from where that came from."

Elizabeth shakes her head. "I don't want to know."

"You tell yourself that," said Kat. "Hey, you know you're an accessory to the crime, now that you've seen my collection."

"Your collection? Like stamps?"

"Yes, except more entertaining." Kat has removed the top of the bottle and is pouring drinks. "Care to join me?"

Elizabeth raises an eyebrow. "And be an accessory to your crime?"

"Oh, but you're the captain. Don't tell Jellico, and he'll never find out."

"You mean there's no one else you secretly share drinks with?" Elizabeth is amused in spite of herself.

"Just you, dear Captain. Now--" Kat tops off the glasses and holds one out to Elizabeth. "Would you care to join me?"

Elizabeth knows she shouldn't. She really shouldn't. But she walks toward Kat anyway, accepting the offered glass, raising the drink to her lips as she silently toasts her first officer and her contraband liquor collection.


	5. Chapter 5

Calhoun and Shelby. Set sometime after "Fire on High."

-

Painkillers have always made him loopy. Well, more loopy than usual, as Elizabeth would probably say. Doctor Selar says it's because of his Xenexian physiology. His system, apparently, reacts differently to standard pain suppressants than another person of similar build.

"You're getting older," says Elizabeth innocently, in what he is sure is revenge for his comment about her and sex and her being a prude, which isn't what he said, but she seems to have taken it that way.

And all he can do is lie there, head ringing and eyes crossed, and stare dizzily at the ceiling, staying as still as possible because he thinks he'll probably be sick if he moves. Which wouldn't be so bad, really, because it would probably get Elizabeth away from his bedside.

"You're not a teenager anymore, you're the captain of a starship," she continues. "You shouldn't be running around like that, without a security backup. It's dangerous-- look what happened."

He swallows, trying to speak against a dry throat. "Rock slide" is all he can say. "It was just-- a rock slide."

She doesn't look impressed. "It's the principle of the thing," she says. "And now you have a concussion. Do you think--" Her voice trembles slightly. "Do you think you're at least _starting_ to see what I've been getting at these past months?

She looks down at him, pausing as if she expects him to say something.

_Dammit_, he thinks. He sat by her bed when she had been injured on Zondar, while searching for him in Ontear's Realm. He had played cards with her as she recovered, losing game after game of hearts because even with a head injury, she was still a better card player than he was. He hadn't even teased her-- not even a little!-- about the "colors" comment, because he had known how embarrassed she was. The point was, he had been supportive of her when she was hurt. He didn't tease, didn't do any guilt-tripping. And this was his thanks. She wasn't allowed to do this. It wasn't fair.

When he doesn't reply, she continues talking. "You go down to the planet, and you don't even bother to let me know about it. I'm your first officer, Mac, I need to know where you are. Telling the nightside officer isn't enough. And then-- I'm sorry, I'm really curious about what was going through your head, so I'm going to have to ask what the hell you were thinking when you ordered Soleta to use her phaser to excavate the cave, which you knew was an unstable structure--"

Sure, the circumstances are a little different. But not that different. Mac closes his eyes, tries not to grimace in pain as he leaned back onto the biobed, and hopes Elizabeth would take the hint. Or at least, that the painkillers will kick in soon.


	6. Chapter 6

Mueller. Set during "Missing in Action." Spoiler Alert!

-

It amuses Kat a little that she's slept with both Shelby and Lefler's husbands. It's not a fact to be proud of, of course, but at the same time, it's not something she's ashamed of, exactly. It is one hell of a conflict of interests, though, which is maybe why Elizabeth has Kat choose between Cwan and Mac. It makes sense in a weird way: Kat is equally beholden to both men, so of the three women, she would be the best person to decide between them.

Then again, perhaps not. This, too, could be the reasoning behind Elizabeth choosing Kat to decide, to be the King Solomon of the group. Elizabeth is perceptive, and it wouldn't surprise Kat if her former captain knew just how... beholden Kat was to Shelby's husband.

Kat knows that she's kind of obvious, sometimes. It's not one of her best traits.

But in the end, she picks Si Cwan. She picks Si Cwan because she knows Mac is smart and innovative and has a wife to come home to. Cwan is capable as well, but he worries about honor and valor and duty and cares very much about his fledgling republic. And as much as she hates to admit it, the stability of the sector depends on Si Cwan's government holding together.

Shelby is very quiet after Kat announces her decision, and though she assures Kat that she's not upset, she spends much of the voyage to Thallon staring out the window of the ready room, watching the stars pass by.


End file.
